Brad Aaron

It's not something you hear often in transit-rich areas, but in cities and towns across the U.S., the specter of the "empty bus" looms large.

Sure, we know the movement for "sustainable" transportation and development is a front for Agenda 21, a.k.a. The UN Plot to End Private Property in the United States. But what to do?

Today, Chicago transit riders are seeing their first fare hike in four years. Though the base fare is unchanged, multi-ride passes are up, including fares for seniors and the disabled.

"To me, the single most fascinating element of politics is the alchemy by which something becomes an issue," said Chris Hayes, MSNBC host and moderator of the commissioners' panel on the politics of transportation at the October NACTO Designing Cities conference.

Today on the Streetsblog Network:

If you tuned in to the news earlier this week, you likely heard that in 2011 U.S. road fatalities dropped to their lowest level since 1949. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the media practically consider it cause for celebration that *just* 32,000 or so people were killed in motor vehicle crashes last year. Maybe that's understandable. In the last six decades, since the time before seat belts and padded dashboards were standard equipment, it's the best we've been able to manage.

SF editor's note: The California Highway Patrol coincidentally launched a campaign this week against drowsy driving, which it says "caused more than 3,600 collisions, 32 deaths and more than 2,000 injuries in California in 2010," according to the Mercury News.

SF editor's note: I can personally vouch for the speed, reliability and comfort of Midttrafik, as I relied on it during my semester in Denmark. 

Over the last few decades, sports franchise owners have been hugely successful in convincing governments to give them money in the form of taxpayer-funded stadiums and arenas. A favored approach is to threaten to pull up stakes and move a team, and its attendant economic benefits, to another city.

Today on the Network, Reno Rambler links to a Reuters story, via the Huffington Post, on how economic upheaval in Greece has led to a dramatic shift in how many get around.